Operational Definitions and Structured Instruments for Childhood Emotional Abuse in Clinical Research: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Childhood emotional abuse (CEA) is a highly prevalent but often overlooked area of child mental health research. One of the major hurdles in research in this area is the difficulty in defining emotional abuse (EA) across different cultures. This article aims to review the operational definitions and structured instruments used to assess CEA and to critically analyse the existing lacunae and challenges in this area. Original articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses with the objective of assessing emotional abuse in children and adolescent populations were chosen for the study. From the chosen articles, the data pertaining to the definition or structured instrument used to assess CEA was extracted and a narrative review was done. A total of 4 operational definitions and 9 structured instruments were included in the review of the 26 included articles. From this review, as per the author, some of the shortcomings of the available definitions and tools for assessing CEA include a paucity of instruments to assess EA in young children and special populations, the need for consensus on the terminologies used to denote EA, the need for longitudinal studies, the need for culturally appropriate standards for assessment, and also the need to understand the context of EA. A CEA assessment framework has been proposed that includes a longitudinal and qualitative assessment of the subjective experience of the child, which includes the context of EA, so as to plan individualized interventions.